No Limit Tournament Hand

[JoeU]

I'm looking for help with this hand. I can't stop thinking that in the end, I should have won, but made a big mistake, especially on the turn. Here's the hand:

I was just moved to this table, so I don't have a read on any of the players. I recognize two of the players from previous games, they play tight if memory serves. I just took down the blinds with a big raise w/AK (I didn't show). This is my 3rd or 4th hand at the table. I am 3 from the button. The blinds are T50-T100 and the bets are T100-T200, and we are 9 handed. I have about T1100 in front of me. Everyone is pretty close in chip count except for the ring master (RM) who has about 8 times everyone else. I am dealt 33. RM calls, I limp, as do 2 other players. The small blind makes it T200, we all call, except for RM and we see the flop 4 handed.

The flop is 764 rainbow. SB bets $100. I read this as AK for some reason. I make it 200 to go. The other 2 players fold and SB calls.

The turn is Q to complete the rainbow. I grab my chips, and he sees this and checks. I check behind. I think this is where I could have won the hand if I go all in. The board is somewhat coordinated and I have shown strength after the flop. The turn is his sign of weakness to me when he checks.

The river is an A. Check check. He shows down JJ and I obviously muck.

Does anyone think I had any chance on the turn? I think betting the river would have been suicide, especially when I put him on AK. Please help!

Thanks,

Joe

[JTG51]

I doubt if you would have won the hand with a bet on the turn. He shouldn't have any reason to believe the Q on the turn helped you, and he's got no reason to think he wasn't ahead on the flop.

I think you got lucky that he was weak enough to give you a free showdown.

Don't fall into the trap of thinking every preflop raiser has AK.

[ohkanada]

"The blinds are T50-T100 and the bets are T100-T200"

I assume the bets are 100-200 is incorrect since this is NL.


As far as the hand in question, limping with 33 is fine assuming there are not piles of raising going on.

On the flop when SB bets 100 into a 900 pot, you have a few choices. If your read of AK is strong then raise all-in. If you feel he has an overpair or any part of that flop muck. Raising 100 does nothing since the turn card will likely be the 4th overcard to your hand. I would normally raise all-in or muck in this situation, leaning toward mucking.

Now on the turn how could have the Queen helped you? You raised the flop which says you can beat his "AK". The only possibility of him mucking to an all-in turn bet is if he feels you flopped a set.

From his perspective his play is very strange indeed. A mini-raise with JJ from the SB and then a very nice flop and he bets 100. Looks like he was not confident before the flop and once he saw a nice flop he wanted callers even though he was giving Aces/Kings/Queens cheap cards.

Ken Poklitar

[folded_a_monster]

I disagree Ken, but I can see where you are coming from. I think the preflop call was a mistake. Joe's post flop play was perfect under the circumstances (especially since this guy was weak). He raises one small bet and the guy made a glaring error by giving him a free card. He had 6 outs (335555) and got to see a free card. And if the guy had AK like Joe thought, he takes down the pot if no A or K hits without risking a ton of chips. Of course if the guy makes a big flop bet or comes back on him on the flop he mucks, but under the conditions he played it perfectly (after his preflop mistake). The guy is obviously not a great player, especially if he fell for the "grabbing your chips" routine. Now that I think about it, if he had AK, AQ or the like, he wouldve bet the river (maybe a small bet, but he wouldn't have checked). Going all-in would not be that bad of a move. He wouldve had to lay down JJ after the A hits. Just my two cents, take it for what it's worth.

[ohkanada]

I think the decision to limp or fold 33 is probably close. If you feel it will be a nice multi-way unraised pot then it gives you an opportunity to make some chips if you hit a set. The key is to be able to fold if you miss. Since you are likely facing overcards you have little or no power postflop without a set.

Ken Poklitar

[JoeU]

Thanks to everyone for the responses. Sorry about the 100-200 betting limit mistake (whats sad is the dealer made the same error) /forums/images/icons/blush.gif . I usually fold 33 preflop in this spot. When I raised the turn, his bodily expression was one of fear and confusion. He REALLY looked confused when I did the "grab the chips" thing. I still think I should have acted on his expression. He turned out to be a pretty weak player.

Thanks again for the help.

Joe